THE MOOSE. 67 



party having, during the winter of 1857-8, procured 

 three hundred skins ; while another, consisting of only 

 three Indians, had on a single expedition the same 

 season killed nearly one hundred Moose. 



The uses to which the various parts of this animal are 

 put, says Mr. Ross,* are many. " The hide supplies 

 parchment, leather, lines, and cords; the sinews yield 

 thread and glue; the horns serve for handles to knives 

 and awls, as well as to make spoons of; the shank bones 

 are employed as tools to dress leather with ; and with 

 a particular portion of the hair, when dyed, the Indian 

 women embroider garments. To make leather and 

 parchment, the hide is first divested of hair by scrap- 

 ing ; and all pieces of raw flesh being cut away, if 

 then washed, stretched, and dried it will become parch- 

 ment. In converting this into leather, a further pro- 

 cess of steeping, scraping, rubbing, and smearing with 

 the brains of the animal is gone through, after 

 which it is stretched and dried, and then smoked over 

 a fire of rotten wood, which imparts a lively yellow 

 colour to it. The article is then ready for service. 

 Of parchment, as such, the Indians make little use, 

 but the residents avail themselves of it in lieu of 

 glass for windows, for constructing the sides of dog- 



* Can. Nat. Gcu. : Montreal, Dec., 1801. 

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